We have constantly heard of the saying that “what you don’t know won’t hurt you,” but there are just things that we ought to know. Without knowledge of several facts or ideas, things can simply go awry. Say for example you were at a picnic on a faraway place and the nearest hospital or medical center was a good 15 minutes away, and one of your friends or loved ones suddenly swallowed his food whole and began choking, would you think you can manage to save your friend without knowledge of how to remove that food lodged in your friend’s throat? Probably yes, but it would be such a difficult feat for you, and you might even put your friend’s life in danger even more.
Having basic knowledge on First Aid can spell the difference between life and death. First aid is simply just an assistance or management done to a patient, who have fallen sick or may be in medical distress, before full medical treatment by a health care professional is given. Knowledge on first aid is specifically helpful if something severe may have happened (like excessive bleeding or choking) and delaying of treatment would mean the death of the patient. We will study a two of the most common first aid measures in a way by which you can apply it to your day to day life.
Choking
Not an uncommon occurrence especially in younger children, food lodging up in the passage of air can be life threatening if left unattended. Most commonly small, round, solid food or small toys can be swallowed whole by children and this may block the passage of air and cause the child to suffocate. Choking can also occur in adults who was also able to swallow something whole and which might have lodge in the air passageway.
To recognize a person who is choking is simple – he or she might be speechless or vigorously coughing and attempting to cough out whatever may have lodged in there (younger children may be seen with absent breathing) – but treating the problem can be a little bit jading. Not to worry, a simple but effective maneuver has long existed and has proven to be effective in most case. The “Heimlich Maneuver” aims to remove any lodged piece of food or material that is blocking a patient’s breathing. The following are the steps.
- First, if the patient is conscious and able to stand, stand behind him/her and envelope your arms around the patient’s waist.
- Form one hand into a fist and place it just below the angle that the last two ribs are forming. Note that your knuckles should face in.
- Use your free hand to cover your fisted hand. This will give you a better grip of the patient.
- With your hands, do an upward and inward thrust to increase airway pressure and have the piece of food or material blocked in your airway dislodged.
- Repeat this action for 5 times at a time until the item is dislodged.
- If the patient falls unconscious and the food or material is still lodged, run him/her to the nearest hospital while giving the patient a CPR.
- For patients who are conscious but are lying down, straddle over the person and face the head. With two hands, push upward and inward in the same manner above.
If the patient becomes unconscious ensure you have contacted EMS and begin CPR immediately.
Bleeding
A minor cut can be taken care of by simple washing (to avoid infection) and applying light pressure to stop the bleeding. It is a different story when bleeding is profuse and the risk for shock and death is imminent. For a large wound, the following steps can be helpful.
- Apply high pressure over the site of the wound. Make sure to use a clean cloth in doing so. Using bare hands may not be sufficient.
- For wounds in the arms or legs, have it elevated as high as possible above the heart. This will help to reduce blood flow towards the extremities and decrease bleeding
- You can also apply pressure above the site of the wound by using a cloth or a tourniquet and tying it around the area above the wound (most useful for wounds in the extremities)
- Apply an occlusive dressing (especially to those profusely bleeding sites in the stomach, etc). An occlusive dressing can be formed by using a clean cloth as an initial stump for the wound which will be sealed in place by a clean plastic and adhesives.
- Make sure to send the patient to the nearest hospital for hydration, for injection of an Anti-Tetanus medication and for administration of amoxicillin for infection. Blood transfusion may also be feasible depending on the amount of blood loss.
Several other first aid measures are of importance and they will be discussed in the next few articles.